Tom Pidcock delays start of his cyclocross season

Tom Pidcock will delay the start of his cyclocross season to focus on training and returning to racing a week later than expected.

Pidcock (Trinity Racing) has a very big 2021 season coming up as he steps up to WorldTour level and joins British super-team, Ineos Grenadiers, but he has a pretty packed cross season to come before he can focus on that.

Originally, the British cross champion was down to appear at 14 races between November and January, concluding with the World Championships.

He was set to start his season on November 22 at the fourth round of the Superprestige series race in Merksplas, but will now start his CX season on November 29 for the first World Cup race in Tabor instead.

Trinity Racing team manager, Kurt Boogaerts told Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad: "Tom has been in Belgium for a while, but he first wants to lay a solid foundation before he resumes the competition.

"After the road season, he did not train for the first time for three weeks. He has now started his third training week in combination with muscle strengthening exercises at [rehabilitation centre] Move to Cure."

Another possible reason for the 21-year-old Brit to delay his return to racing is that he will be a major part of the Ineos Grenadiers spring Classics squad.

This is also expected from superstar riders, Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) and Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix), who will both have full Classics calendars and then rides at the Tour de France to focus on.

Pidcock, who finished second in last season's cyclocross World Championships behind Van der Poel, will be focussing on the cobbled and Ardenne Classics races. Boogaerts continued: "Tom will race in both the Flemish and the Ardennes classics."

The young British rider has had a superb 2020 season, despite it being dramatically cut and rejigged due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Pidcock took three stage wins and the overall at the under-23 Giro d'Italia plus the world titles in E-MTB and U23  mountain bike World championships along with strong rides at the men's elite road races in the European and World championships.

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It was announced that he would join Ineos shortly after he won the U23 Giro, along with Adam Yates, Dani Martínez, Laurens De Plus and Richie Porte as the British squad looks to be even stronger in the mountains.